Glasgow Film Theatre

Abdul Akhtar

Abdul Akhtar

The Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) is an independent cinema in Rose Street, Glasgow. Registered as a charity it occupies a purpose-built cinema building which is protected as a category B listed building.

The cinema opened on 18 May 1939 and was the last to be built in Glasgow before the outbreak of WW2 becoming Scotland’s first arts cinema and only the second purpose-built arthouse in Britain, at a time when Glaswegians had a healthy appetite for film in general and went to the cinema on average 51 times a year compared to 35 times for the rest of Scotland, and 21 times in England.

In 1968 GFT became a registered charity and embarked on a campaign to raise money for a second cinema to replace the old basement conference room. Screen 2 (which seats 142 people), and the downstairs cafe-bar, Cafe Cosmo, opened for business in 1991. Edinburgh based architect James Doherty in 1998 revamped the foyer which now includes a mosaic globe designed by American Glasgow based artist Todd Garner set into the floor. In the same period, new sets of curtains were commissioned from Glasgow School of Art graduate Adrienne Brennan. In 1988 the building was B-listed by Historic Scotland.

Further developments were made more recently in 2013, where Cafe Cosmo was moved to the mezzanine level to make way for a 3rd cinema screen.

Glasgow Film Theatre screens a wide variety of international cinema, classic films and documentaries alongside locally made work and material aimed at a range of community groups. In total, it shows over 600 different films every year, of which 60% are foreign-language. In addition to daily screenings of films, GFT is host to a number of clubs and activities and since 2005, GFT has been home to the Glasgow Film Festival. Held annually each February, the festival presents a programme of feature films, shorts, special events and live and interactive happenings from the GFT and other cinemas, galleries and unusual venues across the city.

Now in 2016 B-DACS are immensely proud to be involved in the refurbishment works in such a historic and iconic part of Glasgow’s arts scene. As part of the competitive tender process, B-DACS were awarded the comfort cooling package. This enhances our already fantastic working relationship with our client James Frew. Our scope of works was to supply and install MEUK VRF equipment to provide cooling and heating to 3 separate areas.

For more information on the different types of Air Conditioning systems available check our services within our website.

Related Articles